Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 221

The theme at Crafty Cardmakers for this fortnight is Explosion of Colour. So, we want to see bright, colourful projects, but other than that, you can make whatever you want.

A short while ago, I made a card using very subdued colours which I really liked. That's unusual for me, because I generally prefer bright colours, so I thought I'd try something similar but make the colours bold and vibrant. But the result of that was awful! I really didn't like the effect at all, so I binned it. And went back to the drawing board.

And then, while looking out a stencil, I came across a template I've had for quite a while. It's a Fiskars paper pricking template, and I haven't used it much since I got my Sew Pretty dies. But it has one big advantage over the dies - if you want several concentric circles, it's much easier than having to line up the dies. And, as a child, I loved the idea that you can get curves out of straight lines so much, I spent ages drawing out axes on paper and pencilling in lines. My dad spotted me doing this, and made me a board with nails so I could do the same thing in a permanent way, and that adorned my bedroom wall for a long time. Anyway, I decided to make an explosion of colour rainbow-style, and this is what I came up with.

I pricked 6 concentric circles , and threaded between the holes to get the pattern you can see. I used machine embroidery thread that more or less cover the rainbow. I framed the result with black card, and cut the aperture and decorative circle using Tonic dies.

The result could be a card, but it's not going to be! It's going up on the wall of my craft room!

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 45

The challenge for this fortnight is Autumn Colours! Now, a few weeks ago, another design team had a similar challenge, and I posted a couple of suitably-hued Christmas cards. But, I actually made four, so here are the other two!

Like the other two, these have background made using my gelli-plate and acrylic paint. I do love the rich colours you get with this technique!

Other than that, I've used dies from Joanna Sheen (border), and a magazine freebie (tree), and I can't actually remember whose die the oval is. I completed the card with some sticky gems - the last five I had of this size and hue.

A different stencil this time - but similar colours and technique. The card was completed with die cuts from Sizzix and Joanna Sheen, and some gold ribbon.

I do hope you can join us this time!

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 220

Our challenge for this fortnight is hosted by Jackie, and we want a project which includes some sort of mythical creature - fairy, unicorn, dragon etc.

I got out a stamp set I've had for a very long time. I haven't used it a lot - probably because the main stamp is rather big for standard sized cards.

The stamp set is Rose Bay Willow Fairy or similar by Crafter's Companion. I've put her on a card that's just under  6 by 6, so there wasn't a lot of room for matting. I stamped three corners from the set using my stamping platform, and completed the stamping with a couple of individual flower stamps from the set. I rather liked the jaunty angles of the corner stamps! To colour, I first did hair and skin tones using Chameleon markers. I can't say I've taken to these. I bought one set - the skin tones - and I've found them very hard to use. The rest of the colouring uses Crafter's Companion Glitter markers in a couple of colours, with the clear marker to blend. After colouring, I added a faint tint of blue to the background using Tumbled Glass Distress Ink, and edged with Peeled Paint. To complete, I added a hint of gold from an Edding Paint marker which does give a good, opaque gold tint.

I do hope you can join us this time!

International Art and Soul Challenge 44

Our challenge for this fortnight is to use the colours orange and black. Otherwise, the world, as they say, is your lobster!

I've collected the stamps from quite a few issues of Creative Stamping magazine, and I've found them to be really rather good. Of course, I tend to wait to buy them when they're reduced, but this time, I spotted a set I had to have, as I doubt this issue will be available on sale! It's got some beautiful wild animals, as well as the ones I've used here.

A very simple card, really. First, I applied ink to some card - a mix of Ripe Persimmon and Spiced Marmelade. Then I stamped the main image and birds using Versafine ink. Then, I tried to reproduce the effect in the magazine to get a reflection. However (note to self): Do not use Versafine ink for this!

I stamped the image again onto what I thought was the back of a wood-grain stamp. (Obviously, it was actually the front.) Still, I thought, that'll be fine! So I used that imprint to make the reflection. But, Versafine ink used this way sticks so well to that stamp, that I got only the faintest image. I repeated the imprint using the back of the stamp and got absolutely nothing. However, I decided that I quite liked the effect, so decided to leave well alone! So, I matted as you can see and thats it.

I had a hard job cleaning both the front and back of my wood grain stamp - the ink seemed determined to stay there, so whatever else happens, I'll have to remember to use a different ink for this technique in future.

I do hope you can join us!

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 219

The challenge for this fortnight is to use ribbon or lace - other than that, you can make whatever you want.

This spring, I got an email from a site called Crafts and Me to say there were closing down, and had significant reductions on their stocks of rubber stamps. Now, some years ago, I used to buy from them fairly regularly. And then I got into digital crafting and went in that direction for a while. But since I stopped work (and now I've got a dedicated room where inks can sit on a shelf in easy reach) I've been more inclined to stamp. So, I headed over to the site and bought quite a few - mainly their own label stamps. I made a card for a friend for her birthday using a stamp from their Art Deco range.

.I stamped with Memento ink and coloured mainly with Promarkers, although I added a coat of clear sparkl pen to feathers and jewelry and the background circular area. I was determined to use some paper from my under-used collection, and found this one from Dovecraft. The semi-circular/flower shapes were white, but I added some Promarker to them so they would match my image perfectly. The lace was white, but again, courtesy of my Promarkers, was made to match.

I do hope you can join us for this challenge!